Eat Healthy, Live Longer!

While surfing the internet news sites, I came across an article that links to aralifestyle.com . First thing you should know is that this is a site who's articles are sponsored by their advertisers. They state this in their "about us" page.

While they are free to do this, you have to take what is printed on their pages with some care. I can in no way validate the claims they make but any time an advertiser is sponsoring some article that is written, you have to evaluate what you are reading.

With that being said, there is some good information contained within the following article: The Secret To Looking Younger By Slowing Aging.

Here are some highlights from the article:

1) People who live longer eat better and generally eat a diet high in fruits and vegetables

2) The secret is in the antioxidants that help the body fight off free radicals

3) Free radicals happen when an electron is lost from an atom because of stress, toxins or normal metabolism.

4) Over times there can be decreased energy, memory loss, heart problems, weakened immune system and a short life span.

5) Antioxidants help restore the electrons to the cells.

6) In a study published May 5, 2005 in the journal, Science, Dr. Peter Rabinovitch at the University of Washington found that mice that produce high levels of antioxidants live 20% longer and have less age related problems.

7) Antioxidants are primarily in fruits and vegetables. Some experts suggest that we should be eating 10 servings a day instead of what the USDA Guidelines states. Of course, if you follow some of the examples on the USDA Guideline chart in the link referenced previously, you may not be any better off. Processed foods are not the same as whole foods.

While this article goes on to promote a product that you can buy, I will not be discussing that here. Personally, I'm not a big believer in products that you buy to make yourself healthy. Most of the things in these commercial products can be done right in your own home and with ingredients you buy in the store. There is no need to pay excessive amounts of profit to companies with claims a mile long that I feel are had to validate.

The one thing we do in our house is whole food smoothies with fruits and vegetables. I learned about this while at a Qigong seminar with Jeff Primack in Orlando, Florida. Outside of the more expensive Blendtech blender, we buy all the ingredients at our local supermarket. There is no special mix to buy. We've been doing this for over a year now and enjoy drinking our smoothies in the morning. To me, doing it in the way this is done is the best thing we can do for our long term health. For more information on this, please check out the following blog posts

1) Food Based Healing Smoothies

2) Smoothies, A Year Later



*Read other articles on Mind Body Thoughts Blog

Healthy Strawberries

Strawberries are one of my favorite fruits and we use them in our smoothie each day. Here are a few little tidbits of information about strawberries.

• 1 Cup of strawberries has about 45 calories and is packed full of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals.
• 1 serving (approximately 8 strawberries) provides 100% of daily requirements of Vitamin C
• Rich source of phenols a powerful antioxidant that helps to keep the heart healthy, guard against cancer and act as an anti-inflammatory.
• The USDA found that strawberries help slow the decline of age-related loss of cognitive and motor skills.
• The nutrients in strawberries nourish brain cells increasing brain health and function.
• Help provide a source of vitamin C and phenols to help prevent vision problems.
• Good source of potassium and magnesium which help to lower high blood pressure as a result of sodium.
  

Sources:

1. whfoods.com
2. Hands and Knees Gardening Blogspot
3. Hubpages.com - The Amazing Health Benefits of Strawberries
4. Organic Facts - Healthful Benefits of Strawberries
   

Phytochemicals

I first heard about Phytochemicals at a recent Qigong seminar I attended in Orlando with Jeff Primac of the Supreme Science Qigong Center. He was lecturing on Food Based Healing that he is a big proponent of and it had everyone's attention.

According to Wikipedia.com, they are chemical compounds that occur naturally in plants. They have been used as drugs for many years. Some examples include Hippocrates prescribing willow tree leaves to reduce fever, Salicin (Aspirin) from the white willow tree as an anti-inflammatory and pain reliever.

On phytochemicals.info, phytochemicals are non-nutritive plant chemicals that have disease preventive properties. There are more than a thousand known phytochemicals. While it is known that plants produce these chemicals to protect themselves, recent research suggests that they can protect humans against diseases. Some of the well known phytochemicals are lycopene (found in tomatoes), isoflavones (found in soy) and flavanoids (found in fruits). They are not essential nutrients and are not required for the body to function.

There are many phytochemicals and while each of them work differently, here are a few ways that they work in our bodies

• Antioxidant - protect our cells against oxidative damage and reduce the risk of developing certain types of cancer. Some sources include onions, leeks, garlic, fruits, vegetables, tea and grapes.
• Hormonal Action - Isoflavones found in soy imitate human estrogens.
• Stimulation of Enzymes - Indoles found in cabbages stimulate enzymes that make the estrogen less effective and could reduce the risk for breast cancer. Protease inhibitors are another phytochemical found in soy, beans, citrus fruits and cherries.
  
• Interference with DNA replication - Saponins found in beans interfere with the replication of cell DNA which can help to prevent the multiplication of cancer cells. Capsaicin found in hot peppers protects DNA from carcinogens.
• Anti-bacterial effect - The phytochemical allicin found in garlic has anti-bacterial properties.
• Physical Action - Some phytochemicals bind physically to cell walls which helps to prevent the adhesion of pathogens to human cell walls. Some sources of anti-adhesion properties are cranberries.

For a list of phytochemicals, go to http://www.phytochemicals.info/phytochemicals.php

According to Jeff Primac of the Supreme Science Qigong Center, phytochemicals are the sparkplugs of the immune system! They are found mainly in the skin, stems and seeds of fruits and vegetables. However, many times we throw away the best part of the fruits and vegetables and eat the part that has no phytochemcials. Of course, it is important to note, that to eat the seeds, stems and skin of most fruits and vegetables, one would take many hours a day to chew and digest these things.

Jeff states on his website that you can heal and prevent almost all forms of disease with natural food found all around us. Inside our food there is great healing power, but it gets lost with cooking, juicing or refining. Fortunately Jeff has found a way using a very high powered blender to blend all these fruits and vegetables together in a good tasting smoothie!

At the seminar, we actually got to try the smoothie and I was pleasantly surprised. Jeff has went out of his way to try and develop recipes that taste good but get the most bang for the buck. And guess what? All it takes is a high powered blender, a bunch of fresh fruits/vegetables and a few minutes of your time each day. For more information, go to Jeff's website and learn all about it. I know I'm going to be doing the same thing!